The story of wind turbine development in this country might be less fractious
had the last Labour government encouraged a community-based approach from
the outset

Next Friday, residents of the Cambridgeshire village of Gamlingay will hold a party to celebrate their newest installation – a 33m diameter wind turbine. While other communities around the land are fighting plans for wind farms, this project has been welcomed by local people, principally because they funded it and will benefit directly from the power it generates and the money it makes. They are not Nimbys but Wimbys: welcome in my backyard.

One reason why there is so much antipathy in rural areas to the march of wind turbines across the land is a perception that these are uneconomic white elephants, foisted upon residents not only to the detriment of their bucolic vistas, but also to the considerable financial benefit of the energy companies and landowners. By contrast, some of the profits from the Gamlingay turbine will be used to provide a regular income for the village, to be spent on local charities and community projects.

The story of wind turbine development in this country might be less fractious had the last Labour government encouraged such a community-based approach from the outset. Instead, it relied on heavy subsidies that have made onshore wind farms a lucrative, risk-free investment for landowners and energy firms. Despite this, while wind is a clean energy source, it remains a relatively small one: in 2011, onshore turbines generated just 3 per cent of the UK’s electricity supply.

In Germany, by contrast, nimbyism is far less prevalent than here precisely because local people have been involved in wind projects and have benefited from them. There, renewable energy projects have not been pursued in the teeth of local opposition but have been achieved largely by communities themselves. Two thirds of turbines are owned by individuals and groups of people, while in Britain 90 per cent are in the hands of large companies. As a result, wind enjoys wide social acceptance in Germany, which gets much more of its electricity from turbines than the UK. The same is true in Denmark.

Belatedly, the Government here has seen the importance of giving communities a bigger say in energy projects. This week, ministers announced that local opinions will be given greater weight in future in deciding where to put new wind farms. But they also want companies to make incentives available that will encourage locals to feel they have a stake in such projects.

One problem is that we have never been very good in this country at trusting local communities to exercise power and choice. Devolution has seen the centre loosen its grip on Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; but England still has the most centralised system of governance in Europe, certainly more so than federal Germany or even France, where metropolitan economic hubs – the communautés urbaines – exercise significant delegated powers over waste, water, public transport, roads, economic development and the environment. Such empowerment helps to ensure that local views are respected, not ignored, when deciding whether to implement policies with disruptive implications. This approach is far more likely to bring about acceptance than trying to bludgeon people into submission.

Getting the balance right will be of even greater importance when shale gas extraction expands, as it must if we are to avoid an energy crisis. The exploitation of such a new and cheap fuel source will be of strategic national importance; but if the Government wants to avoid a re-run of the planning battles seen over wind farms, it must involve local people in the projects from the outset.

In his Budget in the spring, George Osborne pledged tax breaks to incentivise investment in shale gas and announced that communities should benefit as well. But it will need more than a promise of a new youth centre or a few pounds off electricity bills if the frackers are to be welcomed into neighbourhoods. If there are to be fewer local planning battles, and more Gamlingay-style celebrations, then the Government must start using its imagination.